When Sophia Bush and her “One Tree Hill” co-star Austin Nichols returned from their trip to Grand Isle after the Deepwater Horizon exploded and oil began to spill into the Gulf of Mexico, they found themselves disheartened… and then they turned that feeling into action.

“We couldn’t get on the beaches, they threatened to arrest us, they wouldn’t let anybody help with the cleanup, and they also wouldn’t tell you where you could go to quote-unquote train to do cleanup,” Bush tells Zap2it. “They were really trying to shut people out. There was sort of this overarching feeling of helplessness, like, how are any of us supposed to make a difference with this if we can’t get our hands dirty, if we can’t volunteer, you know?”

That helpless feeling subsided during a visit with Bush and Nichols’ good friend singer/songwriter Amy Kuney. “My dear friend Amy came over, and she said, you know, I want you guys to hear this song,” Bush says, referring to Kuney’s track “Gasoline Rainbows.”

“She wrote it because she was so upset – she’d started watching this show called ‘Whale Wars,’ about what they’re doing out on the ocean with whale poaching. Nobody knows. And then this well exploded and all these people died on the rig. Why are things going on out in the ocean that would never be allowed to happen on land?”

Kuney talked to Bush and Nichols about her plan to put the song on iTunes and donate the proceeds toward helping aid in the restoration of the Gulf. “Austin and I looked at each other and we thought, well, we’ve got a lot of friends in bands. What are we doing? Why are we thinking small? We could put an entire album together and hopefully raise a lot of money and also make people aware,” Bush says.

Continue reading the article at Zap2it.

Sophia’s interview on Extra will air tomorrow (Nov. 30). Check your local listings for the time and channel in your area! We’ll have media up as soon as we can following it.

Also, “Gasoline Rainbows” will be available for purchase on iTunes tomorrow in North America! Proceeds benefit Global Green so try and buy a copy!

“The idea for the #GasolineRainbows benefit CD came shortly after our visit to the Gulf Coast to participate in post-BP clean up. Since BP wouldn’t allow on the beaches – under threat of arrest – we decided to raise $ for people actually helping the region, not just paying for expensive PR campaigns claiming they were helping. So the album benefits Global Green, and their efforts to restore the Gulf Coast xo. #GasolineRainbows will be available in N. America on 11/30 and if it does really well then – fingers crossed! – it’ll go international!” – Sophia (via her twitter)

Sophia Bush and Austin Nichols are continuing their efforts to help Global Green USA with the release of Gasoline Rainbows, a compilation album!

Gasoline Rainbows, out November 30 exclusively on iTunes, features all new songs by Damien Rice, Amy Kuney and City and Colour as well as music by Phoenix, Passion Pit and Vampire Weekend.

100% of the proceeds will go toward Global Green’s oil spill response program.

1. “Gasoline Rainbows” – Amy Kuney*
2. “Armistice” – Phoenix
3. “40 Day Dream” – Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros
4. “There’s No Secret’s This Year” – Silversun Pickups
5. “At The Birds Foot” – City and Colour*
6. “The Connoisseur of Great Excuse” – Damien Rice*
7. “Bloodbuzz Ohio” – The National
8. “Tighten Up” – The Black Keys
9. “Let The Time Roll By” – Onward, Soldiers
10. “Moth’s Wings” – Passion Pit
11. “Floating Vibes” – Surfer Blood
12. “Mama Taught Me Better” – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
13. “I Can Change” – LCD Soundsystem
14. “Cousins” – Vampire Weekend